Prayer

Read for yourself

Classic writing on this topic, free to read. Older English can read differently from today’s, and each author writes from his own tradition, so read widely and test everything against Scripture.

• Tertullian: On Prayer (ANF vol. 3); On Fasting (ANF vol. 4); Apology, incl. ch. 23 (ANF vol. 3) ↗

  c. 3rd century (text); c. 197 (Apology); 1885 (edition)

• Cyprian: On the Lord's Prayer; On the Unity of the Church ↗

  3rd century (text; Unity c. 251); 1885-86 (edition)

• Augustine: Letter 130 (to Proba); four sermons on the Lord's Prayer ↗

  5th century (text); 1886 (editions)

• John Chrysostom: Homilies 19 and 20 on Matthew (Matt 6); Homilies on Ephesians (Homily 11 on Eph 4:4-12; Eph 6:14 and 6:14-17); On the Priesthood; homilies on John, Romans and others ↗

  c. 390 (Matthew homilies); 4th-5th century (text); 1886 (NPNF1-09/10)

• John Cassian: Conferences 7 and 8 (spiritual wickedness; principalities), 9 and 10 ("On Prayer"), 13 ("On the Protection of God") ↗

  c. 420s (text); 1894 (edition)

• Anonymous: Didache: ch. 8 (Lord's Prayer; Wednesday and Friday fasts); chs. 11-13 (itinerant apostles and prophets) ↗

  late 1st or early 2nd century (text); 1885 (edition)

• John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion: 1.14.13-20 (devils); 3.1 (the Spirit); 3.20 (prayer, incl. 3.20.28-33 on singing and public prayer); 3.25 (final resurrection); Book 4 (the church; 4.3.4-5 offices; 4.12.14-21 fasting; 4.18 the Mass); Book 2 (unity of the covenants) ↗

  1559 (final Latin edition); 1845 (translation)

• Jeremy Taylor: Holy Living ↗

  1650

• William Law: A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life ↗

  1729

• Matthew Henry: A Method for Prayer ↗

  1710

• E. M. Bounds: Power Through Prayer

  first published c. 1907 · read in Aide

• E. M. Bounds: Purpose in Prayer (Revell, 1920); The Reality of Prayer (Revell, 1924); Prayer and Praying Men (Hodder, 1921); Essentials of Prayer (Revell, 1925) ↗

  1920; 1924; 1921; 1925

• Andrew Murray: With Christ in the School of Prayer (incl. Lesson 13, "Prayer and fasting; the cure of unbelief")

  1885 · read in Aide

• R. A. Torrey: How to Pray; The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (Revell); The Baptism with the Holy Spirit; The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and What He Does (Revell)

  1900; 1910; 1895; 1927 · read in Aide

• C. H. Spurgeon: Lectures to My Students, lectures III and IV ↗

  1875

• Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love ↗

  c. 1390s (text); 1901 (edition)

• David Brainerd (ed. Jonathan Edwards): The Life of Rev. David Brainerd, Chiefly Extracted from His Diary

  1749 · read in Aide

• Revivals and prayer movements

  J. T. Hutton: A History of the Moravian Church (the Herrnhut prayer watch, 1727) ↗

  1909

• A. J. Greenfield: Power from on High: the Moravian revival and hourly intercession ↗

  1927

• Jonathan Edwards: An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union in Extraordinary Prayer ↗

  1747

• Jonathan Edwards (ed.): The Life of David Brainerd, chiefly extracted from his diary

  1749 · read in Aide

• John Wesley: Sermons (including The Means of Grace and the sermon on the Lord's Prayer) ↗

  1740s-1780s

• George Whitefield: A Short Account of God's Dealings with the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield ↗

  1740

• Charles G. Finney: Memoirs (with Daniel Nash and Abel Clary at prayer) ↗

  1876

• Charles G. Finney: Lectures on Revivals of Religion ("prevailing prayer") ↗

  1835

• John W. Nevin: The Anxious Bench: a Reformed critique of revival methods ↗

  1844

• Samuel I. Prime: The Power of Prayer: the New York Revival of 1858 (the Fulton Street prayer meeting) ↗

  1859

• J. du Plessis: The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa (the 1860 revival at Worcester) ↗

  1919

• George Müller: The Life of Trust (his own narrative, ed. H. L. Wayland)

  1860s-1890s · read in Aide

• George Müller: Answers to Prayer, from his Narratives (compiled by A. E. C. Brooks) ↗

  compiled

• E. G. Carré: Praying Hyde: a present-day challenge to prayer (John Hyde of India) ↗

  1923

• Anonymous (eyewitness accounts): The Story of the Welsh Revival ↗

  1905

• William N. Blair: The Korea Pentecost (Pyongyang, 1907) ↗

  1910

• Board of Foreign Missions: The Religious Awakening of Korea ↗

  1908

• Kevin Ward: Tukutendereza Yesu: the Balokole Revival in Uganda (Dictionary of African Christian Biography) ↗

  open licence

• M. Afrin: The Hebrides Revival 1949-52 (University of Glasgow thesis) ↗

  2018

• Modern voices on prayer and revival (still in copyright: link only)

  Leonard Ravenhill: Why Revival Tarries (current edition: Bethany House, 2004) ↗

  first published decades earlier · link only

  An English evangelist's forceful call to the church to pray for revival. As publishers and reviewers describe it, he argues that revival is held back by prayerlessness and a lack of holiness, and he writes mainly to ministers and churches. His tone is severe, and not every tradition would agree with every claim; read it beside Scripture.

• Leonard Ravenhill: Sermons (audio, SermonIndex Classics at OnePlace) ↗

  20th century · link only

  Recordings of his preaching on prayer, holiness and revival. The licensing of these recordings has not been confirmed, so Aide only links to them.